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Not sure if this is the right place, but how do you teach leg means forward?

DH asked me this question the other day and I was stumped for an answer. I generally teach voice commands on the lunge and use that under saddle, but how does one teach that leg means forward? This is not just I am wondering but DH is bringing home an unbroke 10 year old foundation appy on Sunday and will start him this winter as well as my yearling who will be started late next year.

Thanks!

Yogurt - If you're so cultured, how come I never see you at the opera? Steven Colbert

Really don't understand the question. You answered it yourself really. Teach voice and pressure on the lunge then move that to under saddle with the leg. They will get it if they know the voice commands. Also back it up with a whip or crop under saddle when needed. I agree with Heinz though. You answered the question then asked how to so I don't know if you've ever broke one or not but a 10 yr old maybe a hard one to take on ESP

I know how, just how to explain it. It's just something that I do without thinking. This is the 4th horse I'm starting and don't really think about how I'm doing it, it just comes. Not sure that makes a lot of sense. I must be doing something right because they all turn out responsive to my leg.

Yogurt - If you're so cultured, how come I never see you at the opera? Steven Colbert

Easy

Leg, spur, whack.

Actually, really, in a perfect world, since there are two of you, I just use a "leader" on the ground to start. Eventually, they learn that a squeeze or a tap of your legs means go forward, left means left, right means right, whoa means stop.

I don't usually add spurs or a whip for quite some time. Often, never.

Most horses are perfectly willing to go forward. It's the stop and stand that usually need to be installed.

I teach them to move forward off a whip tap from the ground first, then when I get on, I don't use my leg at all initially but just use a whip tap for the forward aid the first ride or two. Then when I'm happy they are happy to go forward and stop with a rider on board, add a light leg aid, followed by the whip tap. Usually takes about 10 minutes to teach them to respond to the leg and not need the whip.

I wouldn't think your horse was all that likely to become deaf, certainly! (My horses all know certain voice commands: "Breakfast", "Dinner", and "Get off my foot, damn it" at minimum.)

As far as teaching them about leg= forward, I usually start with forward-- someone leading-- while I apply leg pressure and most of them make the connection pretty quickly. If they don't we go back to lunging to reinforce forward and add a whip to the toolbox.

I'm kind of wondering why, if neither of you knows the answer to this... why you are (or will be) attempting to start not one, but TWO horses on your own?

agree

basic explaination- you are cueing the horse to move forwards with pressure from your seat and legs as horses work from back to front meaning engine is in the rear end of the horse you cue the horse with your aids as in seat and legs to move forwards into your hands

I sometimes find myself doing things with horses that I have difficulty turning around and explaining when asked. I think it's just a different skill. Learning to articulate what you are doing is good practice, so I'll give it a shot.

The question is, "how do you teach leg means forward?"

So, not how do you cue a horse with your leg, but how does the horse learn how to respond to the leg with forward motion. I think the answer is through association and experimentation. Two commons ways of learning. Usually from early on they learn to move towards the release of pressure. Forward comes pretty easily if they have clear associations to draw from: (horsey thought "I am being led and I am being tapped on both sides. When I respond as usual to being led, the tapping/squeezing is released and both humans are acting as they do when I done good. Ergo: tap on both sides means forward." Same with voice control. So underused and underrated IMO. Words clucks, etc all give your horse opportunities to understand and make new associations later. If these things are not clear to the horse or there's no ground help, the horse may learn by moving off one leg then the other. One can add a wide rein and ask for some turn. The balance of the horse is shifted and he will move which is the 1st part of forward. He will tack and jibe a bit until he makes the experiment of responding to pressure on both sides with "forward." The experiment (aka try, effort) is successful when pressure is released and the rider expresses approval. "Happy human" can take many forms but studying us and seeking "happy human" is a big part of how they learn. Tapping with a whip is helpful with some horses as it will get the butt going. But it doesn't mean "forward" to them until they learn that lesson. Before that, most horses I've seen will move pretty directly away from the whip, diagonally or just a forehand turn if "stuck."

So, I think that's the learning process as I've seen it happen, anyway. Good luck with the 10yr old unbroke appy. I'm sure he'll come up with a special process all his own

Horses are "flight or fight" animals. If something unpleasant or painful happens to them, they will run away from it.

Cowboys in the old West did not use voice commands or a lunge line or a ground person to walk the horse forward when they broke a horse. They kicked it in the belly and the horse tried to run away. Then the problem becomes how to make it stop.

Of course, that is not what we do nowadays, but physiolgically, that is the cause/effect behind it. You do not "teach" a horse to go forward; all you need to do is something scary or painful to it and then hang on.

PS: WHY is your husband bringing him an unbroke 10 year old Appy???? Has he taken a life insurance policy out on you and is trying to hasten your demise?

Have you heard the joke: Why did the indians ride appys to war? Answer: Because they wanted to be good and mad when they got there.

Appys have a strong will and an older horse which has never been broken could be the match of even an experienced horseman.

Last edited by Lord Helpus; Oct. 14, 2012 at 10:59 PM.

I found the perfect distance but they put the jump in the wrong place.